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MOSCOW - President Vladimir Putin declared that the year had treated Russia well during an unprecedented call-in show Monday in which he fielded questions about poverty, drugs, U.S.-Russian relations and Chechnya. Putin, with the occasional assistance of a computer display on his desk, demonstrated an incredible command of statistics and data about the economy and different regions as he answered 47 of the 2 million questions submitted for the live broadcast on the ORT and RTR television stations and two radio stations. |
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"You can find almost everything in the movies - intrigue, drama - but not the breath of time. And this is what I am trying to capture," said director Alexander Sokurov of his new film "The Russian Ark," a 90-minute movie that was shot in a single take in the State Hermitage Museum on Sunday. |
All photos from issue.
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MOSCOW - Ten years ago, as much of the Western world was opening Santa's presents or sitting down to Christmas dinner, Mikhail Gorbachev decided to close the final chapter in the history of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. "Dear fellow countrymen and citizens," Gorbachev began his televised address to the Soviet people. |
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Faster Rails ST. PETERSBURG (SPT) - Testing on the new-generation Sokol high-speed train will be completed early next year, Interfax reported Monday. |
 Over 15 percent of all tobacco products sold in Russia are made by JT International (JTI), the international arm of Japan Tobacco Inc, which is among the world's top three tobacco manufacturers. Ninety-nine percent of these products are made at the company's Petro production facility in St. Petersburg. Cigarettes in the medium and premium price range make up an ever growing part of Petro's output. Petro has received a number of awards this year, including taking first place among Russian tobacco manufacturers in the prestigious Expert-2000 economic ratings. |
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 In December of 2001 the International Paper Company is celebrating its third anniversary in Svetogorsk, Russia. Each of these years has been marked by the completion of large capital projects at OAO Svetogorsk, involving enormous investments into the development of the mill. |
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 MOSCOW - In what one industry watcher called a "miracle" turnaround for a company considered by many to be unsalvageable just two years ago, Russian Aircraft Corporation MiG said Friday it had sealed deals worth $1 billion this year, up tenfold compared with 2000. |
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MOSCOW - Russia will cut neither steel production nor capacity, contrary to media reports last week that producers would slash output by 10 million tons, Deputy Economic Development and Trade Minister Maxim Medvedkov said Friday. |
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MOSCOW - The Central Bank ran the ruble presses in early December to provide a 15 billion ruble ($500 million) loan to gas monopoly Gazprom, leading to a micro-devaluation of the ruble and playing a role in the $2.6 billion fall in hard-currency reserves. |
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MOSCOW - With the Land Code in force and more than a third of eligible land already privatized, Russia's cash-strapped federal land service, Ros zem kadastr, is struggling to accurately take stock of the country's land supplies. |
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MOSCOW - Russian roads might soon take on a new, more uniform, look. Over the protests of consumers who love second-hand foreign cars, the government is pushing ahead with a hike in import duties set for early next year. Encouraged by a mix of outright and veiled support from domestic automakers and additional nudging by foreign producers and official car dealers, the government has proposed substantial increases in import tariffs on used cars, especially older models. |
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Interros Light MOSCOW (SPT) - The Interros holding has shed one of its portfolio investments, New Programs and Concepts, which holds large stakes in several military-industrial enterprises. |
 As Kazakhstan marked the 10th anniversary of its unsolicited independence a week ago, it had lot to celebrate. Having grown from a poverty-stricken backwater intoa foreign-investment magnet, it boasts double-digit growth, single-digit inflation and a stable economy grounded on an efficient and transparent financial system that Russia, which controlled Kazakhstan for two centuries, can only envy. |
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In response to "U.S. Renounces 1972 ABM Treaty," Dec. 14. Editor, Many Americans, perhaps most, disagree with U.S. President George W. Bush when he cavalierly junks treaties such as the one that covers ballistic-missile defense. It is good to know that much of the rest of the world joins in my disappointment over his actions. |
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RUSSIA does not belong in NATO. The Russian people and their leaders are ambivalent about membership in the alliance, and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization is not ready to fully embrace its former enemy and commit to its defense, which could include, for example, a pledge to defend Russia against China. |
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"THE Russian Federation is a democratic, federal, law-governed state with a republican form of government." "The branches of legislative, executive and judicial power shall be independent." Don't laugh. This is the Russian Constitution, Article One and Article Ten. |
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What kind of sick and twisted men could sit around calmly, in safety and comfort, while planning the murders of thousands of innocent people, all to further their own extremist faith, which holds that no other system but their own should be allowed to exist on earth? Men with no conscience and no soul, coldly calculating the number of deaths it would take to goad their enemy into action and set the world aflame in a holy war between the righteous and the infidels - where could you possibly find such degraded minds? Why, on the U. |
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Justice Murdered ABUJA, Nigeria (AP) -Nigeria's justice minister was shot and killed by one of several unidentified attackers who broke into his home in the southwestern city of Ibadan, government officials and family members said Monday. Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo canceled a planned visit to Zimbabwe and called an emergency cabinet meeting, an aide said. |
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Neuheisel Says 'No' SOUTH BEND, Indiana (AP)-The search for Notre Dame's next football coach has produced plenty of rumors. Rick Neuheisel spent Sunday denying the latest one. |
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Issues Archive